Police officers in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, rescued a man who was struggling for his life in water temperatures reported to be around 42 degrees and an air temperature of about 40 degrees. One of the rescue devices deployed was a Manny Tube, named for Worcester Officer Enmanuel Familia, who lost his life in 2021 during a water rescue.

The Shrewsbury Police Department released details of the water rescue on social media.

At 7:50 a.m. Thursday, a 911 call reported a man missing, and officers responded to the location of a former restaurant. Just after 8 a.m., an officer spotted the missing man in the middle of the lake under the bridge at the Boston Turnpike.

Police said the man was struggling to stay afloat.

From atop the bridge, officers threw floatation devices down to the man and shouted instructions. Officers on the bridge attached a Manny Tube to a rope and tossed it to the man so he could be pulled ashore by three officers on the bank who were assisted by rescue divers from the fire department.

By 8:11 a.m., just 10 minutes after the officer first spotted the man, he was out of the water and receiving medical attention before being transported to an area hospital.

Mission: Keep Officers Safe During Water Rescues

Familia, a Worchester officer, lost his life in June 2021 while trying to save a teenager from drowning in an area lake. The officer, 38, was known to be a strong swimmer and, in his younger days, was a lifeguard at the local YMCA where he, as a child, had learned to swim.

Older brother Elvin Familia and other members of the fallen officer’s family founded the Manny 267 Foundation to provide rescue floatation devices and water rescue training to other officers following Familia’s death. The number 267 incorporated into the foundation’s name memorialized the officer's badge number.

The mission to increase officers’ safety during water rescues began with the foundation’s donation of 40-inch-long ExoTube rescue floatation devices, dubbed Manny Tubes, to the Worcester Police Department, with plans to extend the program to other area departments.

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